The present invention pertains to motorized tricycles, particularly to motorized tricycles which have the separated wheels in the rear and are rear wheel driven. Typical modifications to standard motorcycles to convert them to tricycle operation are by substituting a shortened automobile rear axle and differential for the rear wheel of the motorcycle. However, the ability to lean in a turn is lost when this kind of modification is done.
Previous efforts to make leaning motorized tricycles have stability and complexity shortcomings, including the need for operator attention to controls to cause the motorcycle to lean or to right itself. Examples of such efforts include U.S. Pat. No. 7,334,997 to Matthies and US Patent Publication 2009/0160141 (Spangler). In other cases the separated wheels have been utilized at the front and are steerable but not driven wheels, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,591,337 to Suhre et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,541 to Pfeil et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,905 to Cocco, et al.
A motorized rear wheel driven tricycle which is capable of leaning in turns while requiring no drive mechanism to return to upright condition is needed.